Raymond saves his best for overtime

Friday

PHOENIX (AP) - So what if he hadn't scored in the first 40 minutes? In overtime, B.J. Raymond didn't hesitate to take - and make - the two biggest shots of the night.

His 3-pointers proved to be the difference as Xavier beat West Virginia 79-75 last night to advance to the West Regional final against No. 1 seed UCLA tomorrow.

"I shot that shot probably 100,000 times in my life," Raymond said. "It is easy once you've shot it that many times. So it really wasn't like the shot was pressure."

There was plenty of pressure around him, though.

Third-seeded Xavier, a 30-game winner for the first time in school history, trailed West Virginia by six in overtime. Despite the deficit, the Musketeers insist they had no visions of 2007, when they lost in overtime to No. 1 seed Ohio State.

Raymond hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Musketeers ahead 75-74 with 1:18 to play. He then shook loose on an inbounds play, took a crosscourt bounce pass from Stanley Burrell and made a 3 with the shot clock expiring for a 78-74 lead with 30 seconds left.

"I was kind of a nonfactor for the first 40 minutes," Raymond said. "I knew when I got back in there, I had to make something happen."

The second 3 was the dagger.

"It wasn't a great play that I drew up," Xavier Coach Sean Miller said. "It was a terrific pass by Stanley Burrell and an amazing shot off the bounce by B.J."

Mountaineers Coach Bob Huggins said his defense clogged up the intended play but "somebody fell asleep" to allow the wide-open 3.

The Musketeers (30-6) are in a regional final for the second time. They made it this far in 2004. Xavier has never been in the Final Four.

Duncan scored a career-high 26 points, playing the last 11 minutes of the second half and all of overtime with four fouls.

"I'm here to tell you that there are not too many forwards in this country that have played any better than he has through the month of February and March," Miller said.

Joe Alexander scored 18 and had 10 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Mountaineers (26-11) before fouling out in the overtime. Da'Sean Butler added 16 points, 14 in the second half, and he fouled out in the overtime.

Xavier, which led by 18 early in the game, rallied from a 71-65 deficit in overtime. West Virginia made just 2 of 6 free throws in the overtime. Alexander missed one with 14.2 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 65-64 lead.

Xavier shot 11 for 19 from 3-point range. Duncan was 3 of 4 on 3s, Drew Lavender 3 of 6 and Raymond 2 of 4.

Meanwhile, West Virginia was 1 for 11 from long range. The Mountaineers had only one worse performance on 3s this season, going 1 for 22 in a loss to Cincinnati.

The Mountaineers took their first lead of the game at 51-50 on Butler's 8-foot bank shot with 9:41 left. There were six lead changes and four ties the remainder of regulation.

Duncan's three-point play with 1:56 left tied it at 62, and his two free throws with 1:28 to play in the second half put Xavier up 64-62. After that, West Virginia went cold. Alexander missed a jumper on one possession, and his teammates couldn't connect on three rebound shots.

Nobody could score again until Alexander's tough 15-foot bank shot with 14.2 seconds left tied it at 64. But he missed the free throw, and Lavender's 18-footer under pressure missed to send the game into overtime.

"We won the game, West Virginia lost, but you needed a little luck when it is this tight with so much at stake," Miller said, "and a couple of balls bounced our way."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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